The role of local food consumption motivation in the relationship between gastronomic identity and destination image

Destination image is the general judgment about the region formed in the mind of a person visiting a region before and after the visit. There may be many factors affecting this judgment. Gastronomic identity is thought to be one of these factors. Gastronomic identity is seen as an important factor in the travel decisions of tourists because it reflects the food culture of a destination and is unique in each destination. Destinations that can create a unique gastronomic identity can become attractive to tourists as well as gaining an edge over their competitors. Local food consumption motivation explains the desire and reasons of individuals to consume local food in the place they visit. In this study, it is aimed to determine the effect of gastronomic identity on the destination image and to determine the role of local food consumption motivation in this effect. Questionnaire technique was used as a data collection tool in the research and the obtained data were tested through the established structural model. For the purpose of the research, it was concluded that the gastronomic identity had an effect on the destination image by analyzing the data obtained from 628 people who visited Konya. In addition, it has been observed that local food consumption motivation has a suppresor effect on the effect of gastronomic identity on the destination image. In other words, as the motivation to consume local food increases, the effect of gastronomic identity on the destination image increases. At the same time, it was determined that the perceptions of the destination image of the participants regarding Konya were positive, the gastronomic identity of Konya was perceived positively by the participants and the local food consumption motivation of the participants was high. Keywords: Destination Image, Gastronomic Identity, Local Food Consumption Motivation, Konya, Suppresor Effect